Chicken in the glaze

The bubbling glaze

The chicken before tossing it in the glaze

One of my most used seasoning blends lately

Will post details later

I bought 2 packs of beef short ribs. Each one had 5-6 ribs. I bought a cast iron dutch oven, heated just enough olive oil to cover the bottom over medium heat. It takes a while. I dredged them in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic & herb no salt seasoning and garlic powder. I shook off the excess flour and browned the ribs on all sides in small batches. After all the ribs were browned and out of the pot  I added 1 large chopped white onion and cooked it till soft. I added the ribs back in and  then I deglazed the pan with 1 box of College Inn Bold Beef Sirloin stock and scraped up all the brown bits in the pot. I turned it up slightly and got it bubbling, then put it back on medium and let it simmer for about 2 hrs. I tasted it and added a little more seasoning to the liquid. KEEP this leftover liquid. It makes an awesome pot of soup.

I poured some maple syrup into a small nonstick skillet and cooked it down till it was slightly thickened. I stirred in some salted butter, tasted it..added a little more butter, some nutmeg, a pinch of salt, some vanilla and some rum flavoring. While I was doing this I also peeled and cubed 2 sweet potatoes, then I steamed them about 15 mins. You have to watch them, you just want them to be soft. It does not take long. Once they were soft I put them in a bowl and used a hand mixer to beat them with the maple-butter as the liquid (Don’t over beat…it will become goop). I didn’t quite concentrate the maple syrup enough so I added some brown sugar, a bit of molasses (not much) and cinnamon to the potatoes as well. I also adjust the salt.

We also had steamed baby veggies. It was a mix of baby corn kernels, green beans and sweet peas.

This is an "experiment" that worked and everyone liked, so I am going to try to remember how I did it. Measurements are guesstimates because I never measure when I cook, so use your own judgement on the amount of seasonings and taste.

1. Cooking Liquid & Chicken
   • 3 skinnless, boneless chicken breasts, roughly chopped
   • 2 10.5 ounce cans condensed chicken noodle soup
   • 1 soupcan of water
   • 6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped (more or less to taste)
   • 1 small onion, chopped
   • 2 tsp garlic powder
   • 1 tsp poultry seasoning OR 1 envelope (.75 oz) "Amazing Taste for Poultry" seasoning
2. Remainder of Ingredients
   • 8oz sour cream
   • 12 oz wide egg noodles
   • 1 bunch broccoli, chopped (including stems—small dice)
   • Salt to taste
3. Topping
   • 3 slices sandwich bread, toasted
   • 1/3 cup parmesean cheese, grated
   • 1/2 tsp caroway seeds (optional)
   • 1/8 tsp celery salt
   • 2 tsp garlic powder (or less to taste)
   • 1.5 tsp onion powder
   • 1/2 stick (4 tbsp) salted butter or margarine

Combine soup, onion, garlic, water, garlic powder, poultry seasoning and chicken in a medium to large pot. Add just under enough water to cover if needed. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook until chicken is done and tender.

Add sour cream and mix well. Add egg noodles and cook till noodles are about 1/2 done and liquid is reduced. Stir in broccoli and add salt to taste. Pour into 9×13 pan. Cover with foil. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes.

While casserole is cooking toast 3 slices of white sandwich bread. Let cool. Break into pieces and put in food processor. Add parmesean cheese, carroway seeds, celery salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Run through the food processor till fine crumbs. Dump crumb mixture in a medium sized bowl. Melt the butter and stir into crumb mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Remove casserole from oven. Make sure noodles are tender. If not cook longer. If they are tender sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the top. Do not replace foil over the top. Put casserole under broiler (or for electric oven set to broil). Watch very carefully and remove once crumbs are browned. It does not take long.

Russ actually requested salad the other night, which is rare, so I made a huge salad. I made it also including romaine lettuce, but i think it would be just as good without it. This is what I did:

1 bag of hearts of romaine

3 roma tomatoes (only ones that were decently red), diced

3 green onions, chopped

1 bell pepper, diced

1 English cucumber, diced

1 pkg sweet off the cob corn thawed under cold running water

1/2 pkg shelled Edamame, steamed 2-3 mins, then cooled

1 pkg diced oven roasted chicken breast

real bacon bits to taste

a few handfuls of roasted, salted sunflower kernels

I just threw all of that together in a big bowl and mixed it with my hands. I made homemade buttermilk ranch to go with it. It was good that night, but a lot of the romaine was eaten so the leftovers were mostly the other veggies and stuff. I just dumped a little ranch into the container and stirred it well and ate it and to me it was even better that way.

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Last night I was feeling sort of unmotivated to cook, but we had to eat, so I threw together a chicken and pasta dish rather quickly

1 pkg chicken tenderloins (probably about 10 or so pieces)

cornstarch

salt & pepper

garlic & herb no salt seasoning

olive oil

1 bag frozen broccoli florets

2/3 carton College Inn Chicken stock – wine and herb flavor or regular chicken stock, just use a little less broth and add some white wine and itialian seasoning.

1/2 a pound small pasta like radiatori

I seasoned the cornstarch, dredged the chicken, shook off the excess. Then I started the water for the pasta. I heated some olive oil in my electric skillet and added the chicken. I browned both sides of the chicken, then added the stock and broccoli. I reserved a little of the seasoned cornstarch to thicken the sauce if needed. I cooked the pasta and simmered the chicken and broccoli until they both were done. Drain the pasta, stir it into the chicken. taste and adjust seasonings. Mix a little water with the cornstarch that was reserved and add to the chicken and pasta, stirring well.

2 sweet potatoes peeled, cut into cubes
Mascarpone Cheese
1 Egg
Dried Cranberries
Pecans- some toasted, some not
Brown Sugar
Maple Syrup
Cinnamon
Nutmeg (fresh grated)
Coconut
Butter
Molasses
Salt
I would have added vanilla but I was out *sigh*

I couldn’t find my steamer basket so I put a wire mesh strainer over a pot that had a little boiling water in it and lidded it. How long depends on how big your cubes are. You want them soft but not mushy or falling apart.

I put the potatoes in a bowl and added a heaping spoon of mascarpone cheese, a few generous handfuls of dried cranberries, toasted pecans, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and molasses. (I would have also added vanilla at this point) I used the mixer to whip this up. Taste and adjust flavorings. Remember though that once baked it will taste a bit sweeter than raw. Then I added my egg while the mixer was going. Don’t overmix, you just want to make it a bit fluffy. Scrape it into a buttered casserole dish.

Mix butter, coconut (bout 1/2 can), untoasted pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to make a crumb topping. Make a good bit. This was my favorite part hehe. Sprinkle this very liberally (more of a layer than a sprinkle). Bake at 375 F until crumb top is toasty and firms up. Everything else is cooked except the eggs when you put it in. I think I baked it about 45 minutes, but mainly keep an eye on it.

I know I am being vague, I made this as an experiment before Thanksgiving. But it should give a jumping off point at least.

This is what I used

Individually frozen Chicken breast tenderloins
Corn Starch
Dried Rosemary
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
White Wine and Herb Chicken Broth
White Wine
Water
Matzo Ball Mix
Sour Cream

I think I used about 8-10 tenderloins. You could probably use less, there was a lot of chicken in this. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary, then very lightly dusted them with cornstarch. I browned them in olive oil in a skillet.

While they were browning I followed the package instructions for the matzo balls, except I added rosemary, garlic and black pepper.

I poured the chicken broth into a 2 cup measuring cup and into a pot. It was just shy of 4 cups of broth. I added enough water to make it 4 cups + 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of a dry white wine. I added more garlic powder to the broth and heated it to boiling.

When the chicken was nicely browned and crusted on both sides, but still a bit pink in the middle, I removed it from the skillet and chopped it into bite-sized chunks. I added the chicken to the broth…carefully, it splashed easily.

After the matzo ball mix had sat the 15 mins the package specified, I formed it into  balls and dropped into the boiling broth. Then I reduced the heat to a simmer, covered and let it cook 30 minutes. After I removed it from the heat I gently stirred in 1/3-1/2 of a small container of sour cream.

This would probably good with onions, carrots and celery cooked in it as well, I just didn’t do it.

Took a package of 4 skinless bone-in breasts and dumped the following on each one:
little bit of lime salt
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp good chili powder
generous couple dashes of ground cumin
3-4 dashes of Tabasco Smoked Jalepeño (aka Chipotle) sauce

I rubbed that all over the front and back of the chicken then added some salt and coarse ground pepper. I drizzled it generously with Olive oil and baked it at 375 for about 1 and 1/2 hours. 3 times I brushed the olive oil over the meat and I covered with foil about 1/2 way through. I added more olive oil if needed and would flip the pieces around in it to make sure they stayed moist.

Tonight I am going to do a “mock grilled” pineapple. Our grill died, so I am going to use my little kitchen blow torch to brown & caramelize slices of pineapple. Hopefully it turns out ok.

Recipes/Instructions below

Note: I tend to not measure so a common phrase in my recipes is “to taste”

• Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts (I did 5 last night, sometimes I do 3..it would also be good with bone in chicken)
• 1 lg orange or 2 small medium (I usually use Naval no seeds, lots of juice)
• 2 limes
• 1 lemon
• Dried or fresh Rosemary
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• honey

Pour a generous amount of olive oil in a baking dish. Zest and then juice the citrus fruits into the olive oil. Add rosemary to taste (it depends how much you like rosemary. I used about 1 1/2 Tbsp dried. Add salt and pepper to the olive oil keeping in mind you are also going to salt and pepper the chicken. Whisk the olive oil mixture together. Salt and Pepper the chicken breasts then put them in the baking dish, turning them in the olive oil mixture to coat well. Cover with foil and bake at 375 till chicken runs clear. Remove chicken from pan, pour liquid in pan into a skillet. Add honey and cook down till nicely thickened. It isn’t gonna be a thick sauce, but it will reduce down a bit. Whisk as it is cooking down. Add honey to taste and then adjust salt once it is desired thickness.

Tomato – Cucumber Salad

• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Parsley or Mint or both
• Olive oil
• Fresh Lemon juice
• Salt & Pepper

Seed and Dice tomatoes and cucumbers. Chop parsley and/or mint. Add tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley/mint to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Add fresh ground salt and pepper to taste.

Parsley Red Potatoes

• Small Red Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Parsley, chopped
• Lemon Zest
• Parmesean Cheese
• Salt & Pepper

Scrub the red potatoes and cook in salted, boiling water until quite tender. Mix the zest and parsley Now it is up to whether you want to dress it up  on each person’s dish or do it in a baking dish. Either way, use a large spoon to squish the potato (Just one big smoosh down). Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with zest/parsley mixture. Season with salt and pepper and then add fresh parmesean shavings or freshly grated parmesean cheese to taste.